The rally was a delayed yet emphatic response to the central bank’s decision Wednesday to cut interest rates by a half percentage point that pushed the S&P 500 to its first reco

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday, as traders’ expectations for the Federal Reserve to deliver a 50-basis-point rate cut on Wednesday continued to grow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 228.30 points or 0.

The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Thursday as investors bet the Federal Reserve’s jumbo half-point interest rate cut would help deliver a soft landing for the US economy. Wall Street’s benchmark index rose 1.

Europe was waiting to see if the Bank of England delivers a surprise cut of its own later. That is seen as only an outside chance, so for the time being the bulls were content with the first Fed cut in four years.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has joined a global easing cycle with a larger-than-anticipated half-point interest rate reduction. Seven of the 10 big developed-market central banks tracked by Reuters have now started easing policy.